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Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The Ottawa Sunreports that two unions, both representing bus drivers, are trying to get the attention of City officials to express fairly urgent concerns about the condition of city buses.

[Union officials] told the Sun this morning that delays and service cancellations in OC Transpo's schedule are due to several buses that have failed to pass annual inspections and are not receiving much needed preventative maintenance.

A presentation put together by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 suggested that mechanics are using a band-aid approach to bus maintenance:

"Preventative maintenance, once a key focus of OC Transpo mechanics, is now being ignored as mechanics spend the vast majority of their time focusing simply on patching together the number of buses needed for that day."

According to the ATU:

Transit buses purchased in the late 1990s and expected to last up to 20 years are beginning to show premature signs of major corrosion. Air conditioning units on some articulated buses have rusted to the point that Freon gas is leaking from the units.